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PlaceEngine API

The service interacts with client software on a mobile device to sense presence of wifi networks and determine the device's physical location within Japan based on that access. The local client retrieves listings of wifi networks currently available to the device and submits the information to the server, which returns a location suggested by that combination of network access. The service maintains a database of locations and wifi access profiles which users can update to increase its accuracy over time.
API methods log device characteristics and wifi access as reported by the installed client and return matching location, with estimated accuracy within 5-100 feet, depending on the density of wifi access points and other variables. Methods also allow device reports to update the database of locations and wifi access points available there.

Of the many APIs we published this week, ten were highlighted on the blog by our team of writers. In this post, we’ll shine a spotlight on those ten, which included the Science.gov API. The Science.gov API allows mobile search and connection to 12 federal agencies, including NASA, the FDA and the Environmental Protection Agency, with data going back to 1990. In a nutshell, government data is publicly available in accessible data sets. To learn more about the Science.gov API visit the Science.gov API site as well as the Science.gov blog post.

Services like Find My iPhone and Where’s My Droid have been helping people relax for years. The relief that comes from knowing where your phone is and being able to lock it until you get there is amazing. However, what if you lose a device that does not connect to cellular networks, like most laptops. That is where PlaceEngine and the PlaceEngine API come in.

The Bing Maps Elevations API allows you to get elevation values for a set of locations, a polyline path or area on the Earth. It provides a set of elevations and the associated zoom level is returned...